PGA Features

Bad luck, you are going to be a great player.

Prophetic eh?! Paul Page uttered these words in the seconds immediately after he'd defeated Tiger Woods in the 1993 US Amateur championship. Little could Page have imagined quite how great the Californian would go on to be!

Page, a former Walker Cup player and now a successful PGA coach at Kent's Kings Hill Golf Academy, was reflecting on their encounter in the build-up to the 72nd Masters Tournament. Pictured moments after claiming his scalp, Page enjoys the distinction of being the last man to have beaten Woods as an amateur.

Page, now 36, recalls clearly the day he crossed swords with a 17-year-old Woods in the last 16 of the US Amateur going on to triumph 2&1. "It was the week after the Walker Cup and the GB&I squad was invited to play in the US Amateur," he said. "Tiger had just won his third US junior title and was the next big thing in US golf, smashing it miles but I managed to grind him out and won 2&1."

"He stood out a mile - my generation was the likes of Padraig Harrington, Justin Leonard and Bradley Dredge. We were all similar players, hitting the ball from A to B. But when Tiger hit the ball it sounded different to any of us, he had more clubhead speed and he had massive intensity. He was a lovely guy to play with and as we've seen a good loser on the rare occasion that happens."

Woods' phenomenal power aided now by an intense fitness regime was even evident as a callow youth with a whippy swing that coiled around his slender frame. "He was very wild off the tee, hitting it on a big right to left at that stage but taking into account the equipment developments he was hitting it as far as he is now," said Page. "I remember one drive I hit 280 yards through the air and on the same hole he hit a one iron that pitched level with my driver!"

If Woods adds a fifth Green Jacket to his collection it could be game over for his rivals.

Woods has always been nothing short of sensational but has now added a level of consistency to his game that is frightening. For Page it's quite simple. "What he's done is found out what works for him and just repeats it. All the others are trying to look for something new but he's already there.

"He's got his routine, fitness, mind, putting stroke, coach and diet - he doesn't need to do anything different. He's become a lot more muscular, when I played him he was a bean-pole - his swing was very long and across the line, now he's much more compact and square to laid off at the top." Despite Woods' rich promise, Page admits he'd no idea quite how good he would become - but then could anyone have predicted 13 majors by 31. "You couldn't predict that. I probably saw him being successful on Tour, maybe winning but what he's done has been incredible," says Page.

With many experts, including Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo and Woods himself, talking up a Grand Slam, the Masters could set the tone for the rest of the year. If Woods adds a fifth Green Jacket to his collection it could be game over for his rivals. "He seems to have a hoodoo over the others," says Page. "Tiger's got to be favourite, either him or a long hitter or a great putter that can hit it 285-290 yards. My money would be on Tiger but a great outside bet is Angel Cabrera. He won a major last year, smashes it miles and can putt."

As he settles down with a cold beer to watch the weekend's drama, Page will appreciate more than most, Woods astonishing achievements but the world number one still has it to prove insists the Kent-based coach. "People forget how many times Jack Nicklaus has come second or third in majors - I think it's something like 46 times," he says. "Tiger's still got to do it and if he finishes short of Nicklaus's 18 major total you'd have to say Jack's still the greatest ever."

For the record after defeating Woods, Page lost in the quarters to a millionaire stockbroker's son. The name escapes Page but when you've beaten Tiger, who cares.

Paul Page coaches at Kings Hill Golf Academy in Kent. Contact him on 07813 547 678.